I'm a cook by trade. My personal interest in the topic of food extends beyond simply a professional one:

Preparing food, by which I mean assembling a meal, either for home use or in the context of a working kitchen.

The restaurant and hospitality industry, the way it operates, and the kinds of people that operate it. I also know a bit about the history of the industry in general stretching back to maybe 500 BC, and some of the trends and fads within it.

Food production, and the processes that take individual ingredient from farm or pasture to the table.

Culinary anthropology - a general study of the way that a culture's cuisine reflects their values and priorities, and the ways that producing that cuisine affects their development as a culture.

I've always thought that Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential was exaggerated, but the longer I work in this field, the more I believe that book.

That's a great book about how generally sketchy the industry is! I'm fond of saying that the restaurant business is a very marginal industry (a friend of mine who works in sales was shocked to discover that 6% is considered an excellent profit margin for a restaurant) and as a result it tends to attract marginal personalities. Anyone I've worked with who wasn't a convicted felon, illegal immigrant, or borderline insane has been just plain weird.That's part of the appeal of the job though - you work for ten hours with nothing but a five-minute smoke break inside of what is basically a sauna, you get burns from fire, from hot fat, from steam, you inhale caustic chemical vapors from cleaning supplies, you get cut, scraped, bruised and beaten, you got the other cooks blasting heavy metal and the servers yelling about how come the food's not out yet and the chef yelling at you about how come the food looks like crap, and none of the prep guys know how to spell. You walk into the fridge and you see three different ways to spell the word "celery."At the end of the night, it's 2AM, and you go home and sleep in your bed and thank God that you don't work at a desk, because that would be unpleasant.

Wow, I really wish I would have found Crafty Games years ago! This thread is years old, hope I'm not too late. I'm a little intimidated by how different and knowledgeable everyone is in here, but it's so awesome!

I don't know if this will help, but I consider myself knowledgeable about:

Art-Techniques of traditional (non-digital) art, including oil painting, pastels, colored pencils, and markers.-Fields of study, such as sequential art illustration and portraiture.

Metaphysics-Alternative religions, philosophies, and traditions such as Wicca, Discordianism, Chaoism, Hellenic Polytheism, other Pagan/Heathen traditions, etc. I have been a practicing Christian, Wiccan, and then a Chaoist - in that order.-History in regards to occult groups such as the Order of the Golden Dawn, Temple ov Psychick Youth, foundings of alternative practices, etc.-Non-religious occult/psychic info, such as Nazi psychic extermination and conspiracies, Russian telekinetic experimentation, asceticism, government remote viewing, etc.-Occult / Psychic practices, such as basic telepathy and telekinetic training, astral travel, gnosis, rituals and spells, scrying, omens, and lots more!

Weird fringe stuff that doesn't fit into other categories, mostly unpleasant -"Urban survival". PM only please, I'd like not to discuss this publicly.-Religious cults, their structure, operation, practices, mentality.

All of the above I know from either personal experience or dedicated study. I know people who are knowledgeable or experts in the following:

I haven't traveled extensively. I've lived most of my life in the USA, though I have traveled to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Mexico. I plan on traveling more in the future. I have friends who either live in or have traveled to Asia, Europe, and Australia/New Zealand.

I am not afraid of learning new things, even if it means I'm considered a weirdo. Knowledge is power and information is a weapon

I hope this helps!

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I'm fairly knowledgeable about period fashions from the early 1800s to the early 1900s thanks to my time volunteering at a museum, and would be happy to do more research on the subject as needed. I'm also a linguistics major and a certified Chief Instructor of Choi Kwang Do.

I also enjoy a healthy amount of exploring the web and learning about new things, so unless there's a steep learning curve filled with tons of jargon I would already have to know, I'll happily research pretty much anything you want me to - particularly if it's related to arts, humanities, history, literature, etc.

I know some stuff about Belgium, Netherlands, France ... travelled around europe (both for work and fun) so I can talk intelligently (?) about most countries here...

btw. great reception for free WIFI on Helsinki airport...

apart from that mostly usesless stuff- some software development / design- consulting- chemicals/chemical sector- resource/budget planning- negociation/diplomacy (consultant )- random useless facts - cars! especially european cars from the 50's and 60' (later as well but mainly european), the only exception to the european are american muscle.... - some knowledge about beer/wine and food (hey I like good food... who doesn't?)

I have absolutely no knowledge about military / guns /... apart from police vehicles my knowledge about police and their procedures is reasonably low...

you see! mostly useless unless you ask me why "french fries" are called that strange name.... hint: they're not from France! or how you make mayonaise... also a good ice breaker...

Very interesting topic! I had assumed this was a "I need someone who knows about <x>" thread and skipped over it - although after nine pages I hope you've got them summarised somewhere for easy reference

As to my knowledges:

I'm reasonably proficient in the general "history of Martial Arts"I have a computer programming backgroundI have a degree in Marketing and CommunicationsI work in Information Management for a Local Body GovernmentI've played in a lot of different roleplaying systems, have rolled up characters but never played in a bunch more, own even more that I've read through, have designed one or two myself (although never to publication stage), and can talk game mechanics all day longI worked in a pharmacy for a while and have a fair bit of "casual" knowledge about pharmaceuticals from thereI'm a bit of a sports nut, especially when it comes to Rugby, Cricket, Baseball (primarily Yankees), American Football (49ers) and Soccer.

I'm gonna be working on a number of research-heavy projects across a wide variety of topics over the next while and I'm gonna need help. If any of you feel qualified to speak with authority on anything - specific periods of history, certain agencies in government, economics, space exploration, the chemical content of 1960s toothpaste - post to this thread. No topic is too niche, too bizarre, or too obscure.

I'm currently working on my PhD. My field is kind of a mesh of Theatre, Literature and History. Think Shakespeare, and you've got my kind of time frame. I've dabbled in some other stuff, Philosophy and Studies of Religion, but that's the big one.

Highly Knowledgeable:I am a musician, and know quite a bit about music and musical historyI am practising LDS/Mormon, and have extensive knowledge of my religion and it's history, something that most game designers screw up.I am good at math and general science, particularly statistics.My parents and I all speak Spanish, my father lived in Ecuador for two years. He also speaks Italian and my mother speaks Japanese. My grandfather has learned (though I don't know the current extent of his fluency) Japanese, Chinese, Welsh, Danish, and Spanish. Probably others, too.Civil war (history, technology, music, etc.)Greek and Scandinavian mythologyOther game systems

Sporadically/Trivially Knowledgeable:I can write haiku like nobody's business

People I KnowMy father is an astrophysicist, and would be more than willing to tell you more than you bargained for. He has also taught nuclear engineering/physics professionally.I also know an electrical engineerAlso several very good computer

If I don't know it, I can research it.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~More to come as learned or remembered.